By-Law definition: By-Laws VII.C.1: “The Nominating Committee shall be appointed by the Board of Directors. It shall submit to the Board the names of suitable candidates to stand for election as Officers and Members-at-Large.”

Charge: Determination and presentation to the Board of names of potential candidates for election by the membership as officers of the Society or members of the Board. The committee is advisory to the Board of Directors, which makes the determination as to the final composition and ranking of the list of candidates for nomination. (If a list submitted by the Nominating Committee is problematic in any way, the Board may need to strike or add names. This procedure does not seem to be excluded by the relevant clause from the By-Laws [Article V.C.]: “The Board of Directors shall present to the members each year a double slate of candidates drawn from present or past regular members of the Council, acting on proposals by the nominating committee appointed by the Board of Directors…”)

Guidelines. See below under Timetable and Other Concerns. See also By-Laws, Articles V.C. and VI.A.

Constitution:

The committee is constituted anew each year, and consists of three members.

The President’s proposal for the constitution of the Nominating Committee for any year shall be presented to the Board for action at the Board’s spring meeting (usually early March) in the previous year, and announced in the August Newsletter (copy deadline 1 May) of that year.

Timetable:

The committee presents the Board of Directors—for consideration at the fall meeting of the Board—with a list of names (twelve, in recent years), ranked or unranked, of potential candidates. (See Handbook, I.A.4.2.b [Secretary's duties] for details of Board procedure.)

In odd-numbered years, the Committee presents to the Board, for consideration at its fall meeting, with names (four each, in recent years), of potential candidates for election as President and Secretary.

In even-numbered years the committee also presents the Board, for consideration at its fall meeting, with names (four each, in recent years) of potential candidates for election as Vice President and Treasurer. The Board need not always propose to the membership more than a single candidate for election as Treasurer or Secretary; as stated in By-Law Article V.C.: “…the Board of Directors may by a two-thirds vote decide to present only one candidate for the post of treasurer and one for the post of secretary, provided the candidate has already served at least one term in the same post.”

Other Concerns:

A member should not normally appear on the election ballot in two consecutive years.

Prior membership on the Society’s Board, or comparable experience in another professional society, shall normally be a prerequisite for candidacy for the office of President or Vice President.

The committee should be provided with the following documents prior to its deliberations:

from the AMS Secretary on behalf of the Board: detailed suggested guidelines for committee considerations of potential candidates and recommendations to the Board.

from the Council Secretary: a list (traditionally printed on white paper) headed “Council Membership History,” of eligible candidates; i.e., a cumulative list of Council members (alphabetical by last name and with dates of service), updated to the fall of the year prior to that of the committee’s deliberations.

Ideas generated during Board discussions for potential officers and directors-at-large should be communicated to the incoming chair of the committee.